Book: Wearwithall

Book reviewed by Megan Enright: Megan is wife to a tolerant and encouraging husband and mother to four children ranging in age from 18 years down to 5 years. She spends her days keeping company with her 5 year old daughter and her evenings cheering on the sidelines as her older sons deal with homework, sport and other teenage issues. In her quieter moments, she likes to knit, embroider, sew and cook. She’d like to have the time and talent to crochet and quilt….maybe one day. She can be found at Notebook from home blog.

Wearwithall is a knitting book with a difference. Not only does it contain thirteen gorgeous items to knit and inspire it is a rarity in that it is written collaboratively by five knitwear designers. These designers are friends and colleagues that have their base at The Yarnery. The Yarnery being a well known knitting haven in Saint Paul, Minnesota and judging by this first book, home to some seriously creative types.

The designs within are classic in their basic make-up but are individualised by interesting stitch patterns and a delightful use of colour. There is something here for both beginner and experienced knitters and a number of patterns can be adjusted according to how confident you feel with the needles in your hands. There is a straight-forward blanket design, made visually appealing by the use of triangles. This design can be knit up quickly for a baby blanket or extended into a throw by knitting up more triangles. Another design that caught my eye was for a cute pair of mittens. One version is given in a plain colour with a contrasting trim, another version with a Scandinavian style intarsia pattern. The latter for knitters more comfortable with chart reading.

For a more objective opinion, I took this book along to be handed around at my weekly knitting group. There was a lot of long lingering looking going on by all my knitting buddies. They each easily found patterns they would like to try and were particularly taken with the stole pattern, even though it was widely acknowledged that it wouldn’t be a “quick knit”… in our knitting group there can be way too much talking and not enough knitting! It was noted by everyone that some of the yarns used may be a bit more challenging to source but the book does stipulate that all the yarns used can be found at The Yarnery and they do have a very comprehensive online shop.

I feel “Wearwithall” would be a great addition to any knitter’s book collection, there are designs in here for the whole family and as mentioned before, they are designs that will stand the test of time, not transient in their appeal. And as for that stole… I decided that if I started now, at the beginning of a southern hemisphere summer there might just be a chance I could sling it over my shoulders next winter. Another new project? Why not!